Shipwrecks & Lost Treasures of the Seven Seas

A short list of English East Indiamen losses



Losses from the East India Company's ships
(1763 - 1815)

Source: British archives



When lost

Name of the Ship

Where and how lost - (HB/OB - Homeward/Outward bound)

08/01/1763Elizabeth - 499tBurnt in the China Seas - HB
20/03/1764Winchelsea - 499tNear the mouth of Bengal river - No cargo
11/01/1764Earl of Holderness - 657tWrecked near Deal, UK - OB
16/01/1765Albion - 668tGoing to the Downs, UK - OB
13/06/1766Falmouth - 499tStranded on Sagar Sands, India - OB
27/02/1767Lord Clive - 676tOff Boulogne-sur-Mer, France - OB
30/10/1768Earl of Chatham - 499tAt Madras roads - HB
17/09/1769Lord Holland - 499tComing from Bengal River with grain for Madras - HB
25/04/1771Verelst - 499tNear Mauritius - HB
26/07/1772Duke of Albany - 676tOn the Long Sand, Bengal river - OB
07/09/1773Lord Mansfield - 499tIn Bengal river - no cargo
17/12/1773Royal Captain - 499tWest coast of Palawan, Philippines - HB
14/04/1774Huntingdon - 499tOff Johanna, Comoros - no cargo
25/03/1777Marquis of Rockingham - 758tOn a rock, Coromandel coast - HB
24/08/1778Colebrooke - 723tIn False Bay, South Africa - OB
28/12/1778London - 723tRun down by the Russel (M. of W.) off Berry Head, UK - OB
16/08/1779Valentine - 676tNear Guernsey, Channel Islands - part HB
29/08/1779Stafford - 804tIn Bengal river - HB
16/02/1781General Barker - 758tOn the coast of Holland, HB
24/06/1782Earl of Dartmouth - 758tLost on the Carnicobar - HB
04/08/1782Grosvenor - 729tOff Delagoa Bay, South Africa - HB
15/10/1782Earl of Hertford - 758tIn Madras roads, with grain - HB
24/06/1782Major - 755tBurnt at Culpee, Bengal - HB
28/08/1782Brilliant - 703tOff Johanna, Comoros Island - OB
15/06/1783Fairford - 755tBlown up in Bombay harbour - OB
19/04/1783Duke of Atholl - 755tBurnt at Madras - OB
20/08/1783Duke of Kingston - 723tCaught fire off Ceylon - OB
10/04/1785Hinchinbrooke - 528tIn Bengal river - HB
06/12/1785Montagu - 755tBlown up at Diamond Point, Bengal - OB
06/01/1786Halswell - 758tOff Portland, UK - OB
14/05/1787Hartwell - 937tOff Bona Vista, Cape Verde Islands - OB
08/12/1787Mars - 696tOn Margate Sands, UK - OB
24/08/1789Vansittart - 828tOff Bangka, Indonesia - OB
24/08/1791Foulis - 763tEn route from Madras to Bencoolen - OB
20/08/1792Winterton - 771tOff Madagascar - OB
26/01/1796Dutton - 761tAt Plymouth, UK - OB
13/07/1796Middlesex - 852tNear Erith, UK - OB
26/03/1796Ponsborne - 804tOff Grenada (?) - OB
01/02/1797Ocean - 1189tAt Kalatoa, Indonesia - OB
10/08/1797Martha - 406tIn Bengal river - OB
05/04/1798Princess Amelia - 808tBurnt off Pigeon Island, near Cannanore, India - HB
08/12/1798Henry Addington - 1200tOff Isle of Wight, Bembridge Ledge, UK - OB
23/02/1799Earl Fitzwilliam - 803tBurnt in Sagar roads - HB
09/07/1800Queen - 801tBurnt at San Salvador, Brazil - OB
10/1800Earl Talbot - 1200tOn Pratas Shoal, China - OB
11/01/1803Hindostan - 1248tOff Margate, Wedge sands, UK - OB
06/1804Prince of Wales - 820tLost en route from Madras in a gale - HB
05/02/1805Earl of Abergavenny - 1440tIn Weymouth Bay, Portland Bill, UK - OB
04/12/1805Britannia - 770tLost off Brazil - OB
20/04/1806Lady Burgess - 820tBonavista Island, Cape Verde - OB
29/05/1807Ganges - 1200tOff Laccam’s Channel, Andaman Islands - HB
01/1807Skelton Castle - 584tOn the way from U.K to China - OB
07/11/1808Travers - 577tLost at sea - OB
25/01/1809Britannia - 1200tWrecked in a gale on the Goodwin Sands, UK - HB
25/01/1809Admiral Gardner - 813tOff South Foreland, Goodwin Sands, UK - OB
01/06/1809Asia - 820tIn Bengal river - OB
17/09/1809Walpole - 820tOff Portland, near Margate, UK - HB
1809Glory - 502tAt sea, in a gale of wind, Indian Ocean - HB
1809Lord Nelson - 818tAt sea, in a gale of wind, Indian Ocean - HB
1809Experiment - 519tAt sea, in a gale of wind, Indian Ocean - HB
1809Calcutta - 819tOff Mauritius - HB
1809Lady Jane Dundas - 820tOff Mauritius - HB
1809Jane Duc. of Gordon - 820tOff Mauritius - HB
1809Bengal - 818tOff Mauritius - HB
1810True Briton - 1198tFoundered between Bombay and China - OB
01/1810Earl Camden - 1271tBurnt at Bombay - OB
14/10/1812Harriet - 549tBurnt at Calcutta - HB
05/1813Earl Howe - 876tBurnt at Bombay - HB
01/01/1813Euphrates - 596tLost at Ceylon - OB
17/12/1813William Pitt - 572tEastward of Algoa Bay, South Africa- HB
1814 Devonshire - 820tIn Bengal river - HB
18/01/1815Bengal - 950tDestroyed by fire off Point de Galle, Ceylon - HB


From the season 1760 to 1796 inclusive, 1038 ships sailed for and from India on behalf of the English East India Company.
On this total, 51 were lost (5%)


East indiaman

Sussex 1738  Colebrook 1778


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